Wednesday, 29 June 2016

Somewhere in the midst of my maternity leave I made progress on a pair of matching Roald Dahl quilts for the kids. (With names like James and Matilda, it would be rude not to, really...)

Behold quilt number one!

Thing 1 seems very happy with it.

Unfortunately its twin is suffering from Second Quilt Syndrome. (Thing 2 is blissfully unaware of this as she hasn't got a big girl bed yet). But I really ought to get on with it. I've done all the hard bits and assembled the top and prepared the sandwich layers. All I need to do is quilt the damn thing. If only the allure of shiny new projects weren't so strong...

The idea for these came about after a friend drew my attention to Ashley Wilde's Fantabulous Fabrics range.

Shortly afterwards I found a seller on eBay who had most of the range in stock, and I chose a selection from our favourite books - ranging from fat quarters to full metre lengths.

Once I saw the fabrics all together, I cursed the designer for her wanton randomness in the sizing and layout of the illustrations. I spent ages pondering how on earth to combine these into a coherent quilt design and then stuffed them in a carrier bag and forgot about them for the obligatory 4 months.

In the end, I decided that the best option was to create a set of regulation 10" squares from my stash, in mixed blues - then applique the illustrations onto these, to look like picture frames. So I cut out and assembled the illustrations and had a go at laying it all out ...and the rest is history.

As for wadding, I chose to use Dream Puff, which I particularly like for kids' quilts. It washes and dries extremely well and is very lightweight but has a nice element of cosiness. (In this case I used it single but you can also double it up for extra loft if, like me, you are fond of quilts with a high floof-factor.)